Southern California -- this just in

Explosives found in 16-year-old Santa Monica boy's bedroom

May 19, 2011 | 8:16
am

Santa Monica police have arrested a 16-year-old boy who they said was found with homemade explosives at his apartment.

Officers were conducting a routine probation check about 7 p.m. Wednesday at the teen's home in the 1100 block of 12th Street near Wilshire Boulevard when they found a three-inch PVC pipe bomb and firecrackers, including M-80s, large, commercially made explosives, said Sgt. Rich Lewis of the Santa Monica Police Department.

Information about the boy's probation was unavailable.

Lewis said they also found a white powder, which the boy identified as ammonium nitrate, a substance commonly used to make explosives.

The Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad was called in, and residents in the immediate vicinity of the teenager's home were evacuated for at least four hours, Lewis said.

"The bomb squad confirmed the items were explosives," Lewis said, and they were removed for detonation.

A further search of the boy's room turned up evidence of narcotics, such as illegal prescription medication, Lewis said.

The teenager was taken into custody and later moved to a juvenile detention center. The charges he faces include manufacturing and possession of explosives and possession of a prohibited weapon, Lewis said.

It was not immediately clear why the boy had the explosives in his possession, authorities said.